Colorado 72, Oregon 71: Last-second free throw defeats the Ducks

View full sizeThe Associated PressDevoe Joseph of Oregon gets a pass off around Nate Tomlinson of Colorado during the first half Saturday in Boulder, Colo.

BOULDER, Colo. -- The Oregon men's basketball team had built-in excuses for a loss Saturday night, but didn't deploy any of them.

More than anything, the Ducks' 72-71 loss at Colorado was filed under the category of bizarre.

"I'm not sure if I've ever been a part of something like that," Ducks forward E.J. Singler said.

It was overtime at the Coors Events Center. Then it wasn't.

After Oregon's Olu Ashaolu scored an inside bucket and was fouled with 7.6 seconds left, it was tied 71-71. He missed the potential go-ahead free throw, and Colorado got the ball to point guard Nate Tomlinson.

Tomlinson drove the length of the floor and was fouled by Singler as the horn sounded. Officials ruled that the foul came after time had expired. Overtime.

But after a video review, the foul -- it could have just as easily been a no-call in a tie ballgame -- was ruled to have occurred with 0.1 seconds remaining. Tomlinson drilled the first free throw, intentionally missed the second, and that's how the matchup of teams that entered tied for second in the Pac-12 Conference ended.

"The point guard made a good play," Singler said, choosing his words carefully. "Got to the rim, attacked, and the ref made a call."

The Ducks (16-7, 7-4 Pac-12) were more focused on what they considered letting one slip away than the snow-related travel difficulties that delayed them a day in Utah, or the notion that they were facing a high-altitude opponent that rarely loses at home.

"Nah," Ducks coach Dana Altman said. "Just didn't get 'er done."

Colorado (16-7, 8-3) has never lost a Pac-12 home game -- let's qualify this by disclosing that it's the Buffaloes' first year in the conference -- and are 31-3 at home in coach Tad Boyle's two seasons at the helm.

Oregon countered as the Pac-12's finest road team (now 4-2 in away conference games), and for a while it appeared the Ducks were going to escape the wildly entertaining, back-and-forth affair with a win in front of a packed house.

Singler registered his first double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds, and Devoe Joseph scored a game-best 18. Ashaolu had 17 points and nine rebounds, but missed the key foul shot in the waning moments.

"They beat us at the free-throw line; that was a big difference," a tight-lipped Altman said. "And we just didn't get the stops we needed in the second half."

Colorado, led by Askia Booker's 17 points, appeared to clinch things in the final minute when freshman Spencer Dinwiddie hit a three-pointer to make it 70-66, but Ducks guard Johnathan Loyd countered with a three with 23 seconds left.

Tomlinson then split two free throws to make it 71-69, setting up Ashaolu's bucket and the final sequence.

Rather than blame the peripheral factors, the Ducks looked inward.

"I like playing in these type of atmospheres and I know our team does," Singler said. "I wouldn't say it was hard. It was fun. But they closed the ballgame out."

--Paul Willis, special to The Oregonian

Correction: An earlier version of this story had an incorrect word in E.J. Singler's quote about his foul on Nate Tomlinson. Singler said he "attacked," not "hacked."